Mountain Dew, sweet nectar of the Gods…

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I had a vision this morning when I woke up. It was probably because my body was in desperate need of caffeine. (The baby is still waking me up to eat several times a night..) And in this house, the go to caffeine drink is Mountain Dew. Jaos loves, loves, loves the Dew. He always has. Im normally a cola girl. Coke to be exact. But Im known to sneak a Dew now and then. You know, just for caffeine purposes. Not because I yearn for that citrusy taste or anything. Oh that sweet bite of the first sip of Dew. Mmmm.

Okay, Okay, so I came up with a Mountain Dew cupcake. I took a basic yellow cake recipe and tweaked it. I zested 2 limes and 1 lemon. Then juiced both. I added half the zest to the batter and half to the frosting. In place of the norm of milk in the batter, I used lemon juice, lime juice and Mountain Dew. And substituted lemon extract for vanilla. I used the lemon juice, lime juice, lemon extract and Dew in the buttercream as well.

I have to say I was pleasantly surprised with the outcome. They are incredibly Dew like!!! When tasting the batter, I was worried there was too much lime. But after they baked, it mellowed quite a bit. They came out really moist as well. The buttercream continued the lemony lime flavor, with a tad bite. Just like Dew. I think if I had added a smidge of orange, just a tad of orange zest, I would have nailed it. But I am really pleased with how they came out on the first go round. I would recommend these to anyone with a Dew lover in their house. Or anyone who loves citrus!

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Mountain Dew Cupcakes

1 cup butter (2 sticks)
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
3/4 cup Mountain Dew
1/4 cup of lemon and lime juice (juice from 1 lemon and 1 lime)
zest from 1 lemon and 2 limes (separate into 2 piles, one for buttercream)
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon extract
2-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Beat butter on medium for 30 seconds.
2. Add sugar and lemon, lime zest. Beat on medium-high until light and fluffy.
3. Add eggs one at a time, Scrape sides of bowl in between additions
4. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Add to mixer bowl. Turn on low for 5 seconds.
5. Add the Mountain Dew, lemon/lime juice, and lemon extract . Mix to combine.
5. Scoop into cupcake papers about two-thirds full.
6. Bake for 18-20 minutes until a cake tester comes out clean.

Mountain Dew Buttercream

1 cup butter (2 sticks)
4-5 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons Mountain Dew
Juices from half of 1 lemon and half of 1 lime.
Lemon and lime zest (rest of zest from cupcake recipe. Or zest from half of 1 lemon and 1 whole lime)
1 teaspoon lemon extract
neon green food coloring (yellow and blue if you dont have green)

1. Sift powdered sugar into a bowl or onto parchment
2. Beat butter at medium-high speed until creamy
3. Add half of the sugar, turn mixer on low for 5 seconds.
4. Add the Mountain Dew, zest, and lemon extract . Beat until combined.
5. Add food coloring to the desired color.
6. Gradually add remaining sugar until you get to the consistency and sweetness you like.

23 thoughts on “Mountain Dew, sweet nectar of the Gods…

  1. I love the idea of your cupcake contest! However, I thought the green icing on the mountain dew cupcakes looks revolting – unless it’s my monitor, did your hand slip with the green colouring? Hope you’re chomping on lots of vegetables to counteract all that sugar……

  2. Creative idea! I’ve been playing around with using soda extracts to get cupcakes to taste exactly like soda. Not sure if you can get a mountain dew extract though or if that would take the fun out of trying to recreate the flavor.

  3. OMG, we think alik! I love these kinds of quirky recipes and the way you played with it. Great job! Sounds wonderful since I also am a Coke and Mountain Dew (and now Rockstar are long workdays) girl.

  4. Dolores, Stefani and Glenna~ Thanks! My husband was on board with this one and hovered until they were done. He is a software programmer, so I know what to send to work with him on his birthday.

    Naomi- Mountin Dew is a revolting yellowy/green color, thats why we love it so!

  5. Passing by

    Was trying to find a shop which sells mountain dew in london,UK and came across your brilliant recipe! I have even more the reason to get hold of some mountain dew and have a go at making these cupcakes (they look great!) !!

  6. Kate

    Whiskey Tango Foxtrot!!! I JUST made a batch of Mountain Dew cupcakes. I don’t think you people realize that these cupcakes were forged in the bowels of hell. I think ONE of these will do me for a lifetime.

    The Mountain Dew cupcakes are sort of … good, I’m so confused. The problem is that I was simply not prepared to eat one. The claim that these “mellow” after baking is completely false. The only thing that this recipe “nailed” was my tung to the wall.

    It’s been 20 min. since I ate the Mountain Dew cupcake and my taste buds are inconsolable. I’m having these crazy flashbacks to when I was a kid and my friends and I would eat pure powdered tang out of a shot glass.

    I’m a total sugar junkie, and I can’t tell what I’ve taped into here. At the end of the day it’s just more then I can handle in my life right now. We had a great night in the kitchen. We shared some laughs right? remember when we had to run to the corner store for more powdered sugar? that was funny. Well… I just don’t feel like this is going anywhere. There’s no foreseeable future between us. Ya know?

  7. I just made a batch of your Mt Dew cupcakes after my hubby had been nagging me to make some, topped with Nerds (a’la Bake & Destroy style). OH MY GOD. They are so disgustingly amazing, its the only way I can describe eating them. You can’t eat more than one at a time, but yet they are so tasty you almost want more! My hubby is happy now and we’re about to drop a bunch off to our friends to try too. We’ll get them all jacked up on sugar!!

  8. Chris L

    I made these today and they were pretty good if you are a Mountain Dew lover. If you are not or do not like sweet things, I would stay away. That being said I love Mountain Dew but I could still only stand one per sitting. Next time Im going to take out the lemon and lime zesting and lemon extract because those flavors were over whelming. With the lemon and lime being such a strong flavor in this reciple I would say these cupcakes are more Sprite or 7-Up cupcakes.

  9. Mazin Elhussein

    NOTHING tastes as good as these cupcakes !!! simply the best.. as a hardcore M.dew fan now i can have the “sweet nectar of the gods” in cupcake form too. nothing tops thats joy honestly .. thank you for your awesome recipe πŸ˜€

  10. Codi Bauer

    I made 3 dozen of these for my hubby and his Mountain Dew loving platoon as a job well done present when they got back from a 2 week training session in the field (they were dew-less for the entirety). They each got one as they got off the buses from the airport. They were dirty, sweaty and covered in mud and grass and the minute they put these in their mouths, I too was covered in dirt sweat, mud and grass. πŸ™‚ They were such a hit I wound up making 12 dozen for their Christmas Party… there are none left lol

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